by Rhonda Bowen
“I’m sorry. I can’t help it. I’m just so afraid that something will go wrong with the baby.” Sheree brushed at the tears that trickled down her cheeks. “I don’t deserve something so precious, and I love this baby so much already. If I lose it. . . I feel like I have to prepare for the worst or I might not survive it if it happens.”
JJ wrapped her arms around Sheree, who laid her head on JJ’s shoulder, sobbing.
“It’s okay,” JJ said. “Nothing is going to happen. This baby is going to be born completely healthy. We have to believe that God is going to see us through this.”
JJ knew she needed to stay strong for Sheree, but her own worry was not far from the surface, and as Sheree buried her pain in JJ’s shoulder, JJ began to cry herself. Wow, they were a mess.
“What’s going on? Did something happen?”
“Oh my God, is the baby okay?”
Sydney and Lissandra rushed into the room, looking equally disturbed at the sight of the two women on the bed, crying.
“No, no, nothing’s wrong,” JJ said, wiping her eyes and pulling herself together first. “Sheree was just worried about the baby, that’s all.”
Sydney and Lissandra turned their eyes to Sheree, who had lifted her head from JJ’s shoulder and was wiping her cheeks with a tissue.
“The baby’s going to be fine, Sheree,” Sydney said, slipping into a chair at Sheree’s bedside and taking her hand. “We just have to keep praying and keep believing. In fact, let’s do that now.”
Sydney grasped Sheree’s hand and reached for Lissandra’s. Lissandra rolled her eyes but took Sydney’s and then JJ’s hand, even as JJ put her arm around Sheree’s shoulders.
“Dear God, our father, our creator, and the designer of every human being on this earth, we bring to you this baby and its mother. We know that nothing is too hard for you and so we pray that even now you reach down and touch them. Bring healing and health to their bodies. May this baby be born healthy and strong, and may everyone know from this that nothing is impossible with you.”
Sydney squeezed Sheree’s hand and the woman took up where Sydney left off.
“Dear God. I know we haven’t been that close, but thank you for showing yourself to me through these women, this family that has accepted me even though I have done them so much wrong. Thank you for your love, which is greater than anything I could understand. I know my life has been a mess, but it’s not this child’s fault.”
Sheree begin to sniffle again, and JJ rubbed her shoulder.
“Please do not punish my baby for all that I’ve done wrong. Please let my child be born healthy and strong and grow in fullness, and I promise I will do all that I can to help him to know you and love you. Give him to me, Lord, and I will give him back to you.”
“Dear Daddy,” JJ began, tears springing to her eyes. “Thank you for sticking it out with me even when I wandered away from you. Thank you for loving me through these people, even through Sheree, though she doesn’t know it. Thank you for this grace you’ve given to all of us. We are here because of this child. This child who is a gift from you to us in so many ways. This child you have used, through sickness and health, to bring our family closer to each other and closer to you. And if that is the reason that you have allowed this to happen, Lord, then help us not to miss the lesson. But, Lord, I pray now that you put your hand of healing here and bring our sister Sheree to full term with this baby. May this child be born without difficulty in full and complete health. And may he be yours completely.”
There was a pause as they waited to see if Lissandra would say anything. JJ knew her sister was rarely the praying type, but they always gave her a chance just in case she surprised them. This time she did.
“And, God, help us to forgive each other, so we can love this child and teach this child how to love. We’re trusting you. Don’t let us down. Amen.”
“Amen,” the other women echoed.
The stillness of the moment wrapped around each woman, and none of them said anything for a few minutes.
“Don’t worry,” Lissandra said finally, settling into a chair beside JJ and propping her feet up on the foot of the bed. “The Isaacs family’s got strong genes. That boy’s gonna be a fighter.”
“Boy?” JJ asked, perking up. “Is there something I need to know?”
“Only that Lissandra’s sure that it’s a boy,” Sydney said, rolling her eyes.
“I know these things,” Lissandra said smugly. “When Mom was pregnant with Josephine, I said it was going to be a girl, and it was.”
“Mom already had four girls,” Sydney said dryly. “That wasn’t a guess. That was a reasonable deduction.”
“And,” Lissandra continued, ignoring Sydney, “when our neighbor was pregnant four years ago, I said it was going to be a girl, and it was.”
“Maybe you just prefer girls,” JJ said. “It doesn’t seem like you ever predict boys.”
“Until now,” Lissandra said, raising a finger. “Trust me. It’s a boy. Sheree, you can go ahead and pick out boys’ names.”
“Actually, me and Dean agreed on Dominique,” Sheree said. “It means ‘belonging to God.’ It’s good for a boy or a girl, so either way it works.”
“Dominique Isaacs,” JJ said. “I like it.”
“Dominique Royce Isaacs, if it’s a boy,” Sydney said. “All the men in our family have the middle name Royce.”
Sheree sighed. “I wish my family had traditions like that.”
“They do,” Lissandra said dryly. “She just said all the men in our family have the middle name Royce. That’s your family too, now. Regardless of what happens with you and Dean, you and Dominique are stuck with us.”
Sheree smiled. “Thanks, Lissandra. I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“M-hmm,” Lissandra said. “And if you give us back our money, we could get along even better . . .”
“Lissandra!” JJ and Sydney said at the same time.
“What? I’m just saying . . .”
“Anyway,” Sydney said, moving the conversation along, “I’m surprised you’re here, JJ. Thought after last night you’d be with Simon.”
“Whoa, what happened last night?” Sheree asked, looking back and forth between JJ and Sydney.
“Go ahead and tell her,” Lissandra said. “Tell her how you were making out with Dr. Massri on the roof last night.”
“I was not making out with him,” JJ protested. “It was one kiss!”
“Two, actually,” Sydney corrected.
“And I’m sure there was some action going on this morning, since you disappeared with him at the crack of dawn,” Lissandra said.
“He kissed you!” Sheree squealed, slapping JJ with the magazine repeatedly. “How could you not tell me he kissed you! That should have been the first thing out of your mouth when you came in here! And where did you go with him this morning?”
“We went swimming at Centennial Pool in the West End,” JJ protested. “It wasn’t a big deal.”
“M-hmm, that’s why you can’t get that grin off your face,” Sheree said.
“Girl, please, she’s been grinning like a cat with a canary since last night,” Lissandra said. “That man’s done turned her into a dang fool.”
“Shut up, Lissandra,” JJ said with a laugh.
“You know it’s true.”
“This is awesome,” Sheree said, clapping her hands together. “And to think, you might never have run into him if I hadn’t moved into your house and fainted that fateful day in May. You know you better make a toast to me at your wedding.”
“Whoa! You guys need to slow that train all the way down,” JJ said. “We haven’t even gone on a real date yet!”
“And when will that be?” Sydney asked dryly. “Tonight? Or better yet, the moment you leave here? In fact, I bet he’s waiting for you in the parking lot.”
“Ya’ll are trifling,” JJ said. “Every last one of you.”
Just then JJ’s phone rang.
Sheree snatched it out of JJ’s hands and tossed it to Lissandra.
“Guess who’s calling?” Lissandra held the phone out so they could see the screen. “Dr. Massri himself.”
“Give me that,” JJ said, reaching for the phone. Lissandra tossed it to Sydney, who answered the call.
“Hello, Dr. Massri. How are you?” she asked.
JJ rolled her eyes and leaned back in the bed beside a laughing Sheree, knowing it was no use trying to get the phone from her sister.
“Judith?” Sydney repeated, looking over at JJ. “Oh yes, she’s right here.”
Sydney held the phone over to her sister. “It’s for you, Judith.”
JJ grabbed the instrument and put it to her ear to the laughs of her sisters.
“Hey, Simon.”
He chuckled. “Your sisters giving you a hard time?”
“Yes,” JJ said. “Sheree included.”
“You still want me to come and get you?” he asked.
“Yup. In an hour, maybe?” JJ said.
“Make it two,” Sheree said. “You’re gonna do my nails and watch Soul Food with me.”
JJ sighed. “Sheree says two.”
He chuckled again. “Okay, that’s fine. See you in a couple.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
“Bye, Simon!” the other three women chorused. JJ could hear his laughter as she ended the call.
“You all are terrible,” JJ said, getting up off the bed. “I’m going to use the washroom.”
“Great. By the time you come back, Lissandra should be done setting up this DVD,” Sheree said, handing the case to Lissandra.
“Season one?” JJ heard her sister say as she headed to the bathroom off Sheree’s room. “Season three was the best.”
She paused and looked back at the three of them, Lissandra trying to figure out how to work the DVD player attached to the TV, Sydney and Sheree hunched over the magazine. It reminded her of how it was when all her sisters used to have their girls-nights-in. It reminded her of family. Sheree was part of their family now. Instinctively JJ knew that whatever happened with the baby and with Sheree’s marriage to Dean, the woman would always be a part of them, for better or for worse. In many ways, Sheree had been lost in the life she had been living before, hurting people to get what she wanted. But God had brought her to them and taught them all something in the process.
Sydney was right. No matter how lost they all were, they had one thing in common. God was waiting to bring them all home.
Chapter 33
“Okay, so where are we going now?” JJ asked as Simon took the Jeep on the ramp to the 404 north.
“To dinner,” Simon said, resting his free hand on the armrest between them.
“Isn’t it a bit early?” JJ asked. “It’s barely four. Plus I’d like to go to dinner in something more dressed up than shorts and a peasant top.”
“We won’t be eating right away. And as for what you’re wearing . . .” JJ watched his eyes run the length of her form, then his mouth tilted into a smile. “You look fine to me.”
“Keep your eyes on the road, mister,” she said, even though a smile was pulling at her own lips.
“I’ll try, but you don’t make it easy.”
The easy banter flowed between them as they headed north of the city and slightly east. When JJ saw signs for Uxbridge, she began to suspect what was going on.
“You’re taking me to your home, aren’t you?” JJ said, sitting up suddenly.
He glanced over at her slyly. “Maybe.”
“Wow, I get to see the home of Dr. Simon Massri. I’m intrigued,” JJ said, rubbing her palms together.
He chuckled. “Well, you showed me yours, so I guess I should show you mine.”
His place wasn’t huge, but it was wide. The bungalow-style house sat comfortably among the shelter of tall black-cherry trees, which JJ knew had to be older than both of them. Wide steps led up to a wraparound porch, anchored at the corners by stacked stone pillars. Two huge windows balanced a wooden, screened door that led to the inside. She couldn’t wait to see what was beyond those doors. What she had already seen gave her a peek at another side of Simon.
“This is beautiful,” she breathed as she walked ahead of him to the front door.
“Thanks,” Simon said.
She had caught him watching her first reactions to his place and suspected that what she thought about it would be important to him. He had nothing to worry about. She was liking what she saw.
When he opened the front door and she stepped inside, she decided she loved it. The house had a chalet feel to it. The floor was made of lighter stained wood, and the same wood was used to panel the walls from the floor almost halfway to the ceiling. The ceiling itself was constructed of exposed wooden beams from which hung the lighting fixtures.
Standing in the living room, she could turn in a full circle and see almost the whole house. Large, but still managing to pull off a cozy feel. Cabin-like, but completely livable. When she finished her 360-degree examination, she was face-to-face with Simon.
“Well?” he asked. “What do you think?”
JJ couldn’t really tell him what she thought—that she loved the house so much that she was ready to kick off her shoes and spend the rest of her vacation curled up on the soft couch that faced the huge picture windows and glass doors.
“I love it,” JJ said, beaming. “It’s nothing like I imagined a doctor’s house to be. But it’s exactly who you are.”
She sighed and glanced around again. “All it needs is a vegetable garden around the back to be complete.”
He smiled and took her hand. “Come with me, Miss Isaacs.”
JJ let him lead her through the dining room to the screened-in deck, and out the doors that led to the backyard. When JJ stepped outside, she felt like she had stepped into another world. Whereas the front of the yard was shadowed by trees, the backyard opened up into a large grassy field, with enough open space for JJ to run free and turn cartwheels.
Her toes itched for it, and so she slipped out of her shoes and took off skipping through the grass. Memories of her early teen years, of summers spent at her grandmother’s home in rural Ontario, came back to her.
“Having fun, Pippi Longstocking?” Simon called as he walked toward her.
She grinned. “You have no idea.”
“Good.” He grinned. “But if we want to eat, we have work to do.”
He nodded toward the only structure within sight behind the house, a box-shaped, shiny gray building. When they got close enough, she realized that the structure was not gray, but made of glass. And when Simon opened the doors and let her inside, she realized exactly what it was.
“You have a greenhouse?” JJ squeaked.
Simon nodded. “This way I can grow the vegetables I want, throughout the year.”
She shook her head. “Simon Massri, you never stop surprising me.”
He slipped an arm around her. “Good.” He planted a kiss in her hair. “I like to keep it interesting.”
“You certainly do that,” JJ said, leaning against him. “So is this where we’re going to pick our dinner?”
“That’s right,” he said. “This is what we’re going to need.”
He began to name ingredients, some JJ was familiar with and others she would need help finding. With the basket he had found for her, she wandered through the rows of plants, picking out the vegetables they needed while he adjusted the temperature and checked hydration.
JJ couldn’t believe how big the greenhouse was and how many varieties of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and beans Simon had going. She wondered when he found time to take care of them, and who did it when he was away.
“Judith.” Simon put his hand on her shoulder and turned her around. “Taste this.”
She opened her mouth and took a bite of the small tomato he held out to her. It was sweet. Sweeter than any tomato she had tasted in a long time. And fresh in a way that she couldn’t descri
be.
“Oh, this is good,” JJ said, pulling his wrist close so she could take another bite. “You grew these?”
“From seeds,” Simon said proudly. “Could you ever go back to supermarket tomatoes after these?”
“Are you kidding me?” JJ asked. “I haven’t had supermarket tomatoes in years. Sydney would kill me. But these taste even better than the ones we get from the market.”
“No pesticides, and organic fertilizer,” Simon said. “Did you get everything on our list?”
JJ grimaced. “Except the mushrooms. They look kinda scary.”
Simon chuckled and pulled JJ back over to the area where clusters of mushrooms were growing.
“There’s nothing to be scared of,” he said, pulling a knife from his pocket and stooping down.
“I don’t know,” JJ said, peering over his shoulder. “They look like the stuff that used to grow on the rotting wood near the back of my grandma’s yard.”
“Those you shouldn’t eat. But these,” Simon said, cutting off a few near the base, “will taste great.”
“I’ll take your word for it, hon,” JJ said, holding the basket out for him to drop them in. Produce in hand, they made the trek back to the house and into the kitchen. JJ grabbed a seat on a stool by the counter, content to watch Simon work until he needed her. But before she could settle in too comfortably, he set her to work washing and cutting up vegetables.
“How do you find time to tend all those plants?” JJ asked. “In fact, before you answer all that, when did you even buy this house, seeing that you are almost never in one place.”
“I got this place the same time my parents moved here,” Simon said. “My mom insisted that I have somewhere of my own where I could leave all my stuff, instead of storing it in boxes at their house.”
JJ laughed. “Like permanent storage space?”
“Yeah, something like that,” Simon said, pulling pasta from the fridge. “Since my parents seem to have decided that they want to settle and retire here, this seemed like the place to do it. This way at least I have a place near them, so if anything happens, they’re not out in the cold.”
“Sounds like you’re protective of them.”